Publisher: Carel Snyman

From The Editor

#July 2013

Hi everyone!

Well, there’s the first half of the year come and gone! Once again we stand amazed at how time passes at an ever increasing tempo. I suppose it is the price we pay for our modern lifestyles which are tuned to instant communication, instant gratification, and instant access to virtually any information.

Our generation has even coined a term for this phenomenon, the phrase “24/7” which signifies someone or something as being available 24 hours a day, 7days a week, for 365 days a year. (A cynic would probably term this as, “No rest for the wicked”!)
We have also just experienced the two extremes – the longest night of the year in the Southern hemisphere and the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. What is happening to the weather though? Here in Pretoria we are experiencing one of the mildest winters in memory while some of the commentators of the Les Mans Grand Prix in Europe said they had to turn on the heaters even though it is the middle of their summer!

I suppose the lesson to be learnt is that there is a time for everything. Creation is built on the principal of changing rhythms and I feel it is something to be embraced. We read in Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 NLT:

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.”

Can there be a more profound recipe for Christ followers to enjoy living an abundant life? I hope this newsletter will convey something of this sentiment.

God bless you all,

Carel.

Living Inspirations:

Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

Nature’s beauty can be easily missed -- but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.

The Astounding Athletic Power Of Quadcopters

Life Matters: The Social Sciences:

Reach Into The Computer And Grab A Pixle

The border between our physical world and the digital information surrounding us has been getting thinner and thinner. Designer and engineer Jinha Lee wants to dissolve it altogether.

As he demonstrates in this short, gasp-inducing talk, his ideas include a pen that penetrates into a screen to draw 3D models and SpaceTop, a computer desktop prototype that lets you reach through the screen to manipulate digital objects.

Jinha Lee works at the boundary of the physical and digital world. The TED Fellow, designer and engineer is exploring ways to weave digital information into physical space.

Life And Matter Homepage: Recent Updates

Jesus Christ The Word

Truth, Beauty, And Goodness:

Pearls From Pepper Blair:

Once again, it is a privilege to pass on another of Pepper’s Profound Pearls.

Thank you Pepper for helping us “fix our minds on higher things”, and bringing Truth, Beauty, and Goodness into our lives!

May our souls also dare to fly!

Eagle in the Sky

I shall not forget the story

Of the eagle in the sky

Who rose ever onward high...

To look down upon the earth

And find reason for his birth...

And find reason why one morning

Life broke forth into the light.

It was said that on each wing

Glowed a feather in the night.

I shall not forget the story.

Though it is all things must die,

There comes heaven-given glory

To the soul who dares to fly.

Copyright 2012-2013 by Pepper Blair, love-pb-poetry.com

Living In The Spirit: Nuggets Of Faith

9/11 Healing: The Mothers Who Found Forgiveness, Friendship

Phyllis Rodriguez and Aicha el-Wafi have a powerful friendship born of unthinkable loss. Rodriguez' son was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001; el-Wafi's son Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted of a role in those attacks and is serving a life sentence. In hoping to find peace, these two moms have come to understand and respect one another.

Aicha el-Wafi and Phyllis Rodriguez met around a shared tragedy -- and their friendship has become a powerful symbol for forgiveness and dialogue